首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
•Read the following article about merge and the questions on the opposite page. •For each question 15-20, mark one letter (A, B,
•Read the following article about merge and the questions on the opposite page. •For each question 15-20, mark one letter (A, B,
admin
2010-01-28
46
问题
•Read the following article about merge and the questions on the opposite page.
•For each question 15-20, mark one letter (A, B, C or D ) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose.
A school of behavioral economists has long argued that when it comes to money, people are incapable of acting in their own best interest -- that decisions result from impulse and overconfidence as much as from reason. Smart folks, in other words, are just as likely to soon part with their money as all those fools.
The truly bad news is that smart companies are just as prone to make terrible decisions for the same reason. Take one of the biggest business decisions of all— merger. Research consistently shows that most mergers fail in every sense of the word, from falling stock prices to lower profitability after the merger. Yet, even with suffering capital markets, a recent Hewitt Associates study found that more than half of the 70 senior executives and board members surveyed planned to step up merger activity during the next three years.
Why? Call it executive hubris. CEOs are not different from the rest of us in that they fall prey to the self-enhancement bias: we all like to think we are intelligent and efficacious. So we overestimate our abilities. That’s why studies show that significantly more than half of all people believe they are above average -- in negotiating ability, even in income, This overly optimistic view is, of course, worse for CEOs- afar all, they generally are way above average. Btu the result is the same: bad decisions. One study, by business school professors Matthew Hayward and Donald Hambrick, showed that the greater the hubris of the chief executive, the more a company tends to overpay for acquisitions.
The aphorism "Pride goeth before a fall" seems to hold true in business too. When executives are confronted with the appalling statistics, their first response goes something like this: "That may happen to other companies, but not ours. This acquisition will be more successful. We have learned."
The next CEO challenge is persuading a possibly recalcitrant board of directors to let you pursue your urge to merge. Hubris, again, returns to center stage. You paint a picture of doom and gloom that will result if you don’t merge. Take a look at one of the rationales given for the merger of Hewlett-Packard and Compaq, two companies with poor operating track records. The argument was that PCs were becoming a commodity industry, consolidation was inevitable, and if HP didn’t do the consolidating, it would soon be one of the consolidated. Here’s another variant of the same rationale: If you don’t buy the target company, your competitor will -- and you’ll lose out. This gambit uses the influence strategy of scarcity -- we want what we can’t have, and we find particularly desirable anything that we may lose to someone else.
Here’s how to avoid hubris-fueled merger mania. First, follow the adage from medicine: Forgive and remember. Go back and evaluate past merger decisions, admit when you were wrong, figure out why, and learn from it.
Second, beware of too much agreement in the board room. When Alfred Sloan ran General Motors, if he couldn’t find opposition to a decision, he’d postpone it. He interpreted a lack of dissent as a lack of analysis. Find, even encourage, people to disagree with you, so that all sides of the decision are examined. Mostly, we like those who agree with us. But as one of my colleagues likes to point out, if two people agree all the time, one of them is redundant.
The urge to merge is still like an addiction in many companies: Doing deals is much more fun and interesting than fixing fundamental problems. So, as in dealing with any other addiction or temptation, maybe it is best to just say no.
What are we told is the best way to avoid hubris-fueled merger madness?
选项
A、Draw lessons from past merger decisions.
B、Trust those who share opinions with you.
C、Stay far away from merger activities.
D、Try to accept opposing views.
答案
D
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/tCKd777K
本试题收录于:
BEC高级阅读题库BEC商务英语分类
0
BEC高级阅读
BEC商务英语
相关试题推荐
A、 B、 C、 CThesubwayanswerswhatisthefastestwaytogetdowntown.Choice(A)confusestheoppositesslowand
A、 B、 C、 CHe’stoobusyisapoliteresponsetotherequest.Choice(A)answerswhichtypeoflettersdoyoupre
A、 B、 C、 ANo,...inahospitalanswerstheyes/noquestion.Choice(B)confusesthesimilarsoundsbarnandbor
A、 B、 C、 BWedidn’thavetimetotypeitanswerswhytheletterwasnottyped.Choice(A)confusesthewordstype
Theinterlocutorasksyouquestionsonanumberofwork-relatedandnonwork-relatedsubjects.(Thecandidatechoosesonetop
Askingquestions询问
Question询问
Askingquestions查询
Tellingyouraudiencethattheycanaskquestions请听众提问
随机试题
开放式学习有4种类型,分别是学习班形式、______、遥控体系和半合同体系。
案情:某村农民孙甲一家15人于2003年翻盖瓦房9间,共同居住使用。2004年2月全家分家析产以后,孙甲与其两个弟弟孙乙、孙丙各分得3间瓦房,按份共有,分别使用。2004年8月18日孙甲的儿子在本村另外申请到一块宅基地,准备盖一栋楼房,因资金不够,遂决定将
简述爆炸危险环境电气设备选择的原则。
案例十一:表2~10是红日公司2008年7月1日的有关财务信息,假设该公司在7月31日的股价为52元。根据案例十一,回答下列题目:经过非经常损益调整的当前市盈率是( )。
长江全长约6300公里,流经青海、西藏……()个省、自治区、直辖市,流域面积达180余万平方公里:
下列关于网络协议的描述中,错误的是()。
7.8million
Lookatthefollowingresearchfindings(Questions18-20)andthelistofresearchersbelow.Matcheachresearchfindingwithth
A.claimB.advancedC.challengeD.butE.constantlyF.declareG.pilesupH
A、TolookforspecialisttranslatorsontheInternet.B、Tooffermoreservicestotheirpresentcustomers.C、Totrytoemploymo
最新回复
(
0
)